Yet Another Reboot: Tarzan

With the notion that Hollywood loves to try to squeeze more money out of something that its done before, we're starting a new department here at the Morgue. We call it "Yet Another Reboot" and it will be used on any film that we hear about that is going to be a remake of a story that already exists. Call it what you want: reboot, re-imagining, revitalization, whatever, the result is usually a re-hash of the same old crap. Its uncreative, but who cares? Its all about the money, not the art.

To christen our new tag comes news from Entertainment Weekly that Edgar Rice Burroughs classic vine swinging feral child Tarzan, made famous and exploited to the hilt by Disney will be getting another run through the Tinseltown copy machine.

Director Stephen Sommers (Van Helsing, The Mummy Returns) and "Australia" screenwriter Stuart Beattie have decided to modify Edgar Rice Burrows's original 1912 story, placing the king of the Jungle this go around in 1930s era and giving him a romance:

“Think Pirates of the Caribbean with buffed-and-tanned actors flying through the jungle and sprinting up trees, parkour-style.”

This, like all of the reboots that have come before it, begs the question: do audiences really want to see a remake of Tarzan? Is there enough interest - and suspension of disbelief - to warrant the studios forking out millions in the hopes that audiences will want to see Tarzan running sideways on buildings and leaping across rooftops?

Since the art/ sport of Parkour is still a relatively unseen gimmick in films - or at least not something that has been done to death yet - a story about Tarzan seems like a logical choice to exploit the sport with. Visually, it makes for some amazing shots. So all that's left is to figure out a way to add it to a story about a boy raised by monkeys. Mix in a fish-out-of-water cliche and you have what Warner Brothers hopes will be a huge success.

What do you think? Is the world ready for yet another reboot of Tarzan? Leave your comments below.